Wyatt Rebellion Flashcards
(16 cards)
What year?
1554
Duration?
2 weeks
Leadership?
Sir Robert Wyatt
Did it have noble backing? Who?
Yes, from major nobles who backed Northumberland.
Earl of Devon
Duke of Suffolk
Main cause/aim
Factional
Main aim was originally a change in policy – to persuade Mary not to marry Philip II. When it became clear Mary would not be moved, the aim shifted to placing Elizabeth on the throne
Subsidiary Causes?
Protestant fear of consequences of there being a Catholic monarch
Fear of introduction of Spanish Inquisition
Degree of threat?
Moderate.
Rebels were badly organised and not well supported. Government took them seriously because they threatened London, and without the support of Londoners, Mary might have fallen. That Protestant London backed a legitimate Catholic queen against Protestant rivals shows strength of Tudor “brand” after 70 years
What manifesto did Wyatt send out at the start of the rebellion?
Main demand was that Mary should receive “better counsel” – listen to the nobility and gentry’s views who encouraged Courtney as a match
Where was each rebellion uprising to be based under who?
Wyatt in Kent
Earl of Devon in Devon
Duke of Suffolk in
Leicestershire
Sir James Crofts in the Welsh marches
Which one of the fourpronged rebellion actually rose?
Wyatt only roused Kent.
Duke of Suffolk never gathered more then 140 men.
Who was sent from London to subdue the Kentish men?
Duke of Norfolk
Why did the Duke of Norfolk’s men desert to Wyatt?
Nationalism feeling off being against the Spanish marriage.
Did Mary tried to negotiate? Was it successful?
She did try to negotiate for the men to return to Kent but they refused. Making the rebellion treasonous.
Did London back Mary?
Yes
Although it was rather for stability then the Spanish marriage, people wanted the rightful heir on the throne. Showed stability in England.
How were the rebels prevented into directly entering London? Why was this bad for them?
London Bridge was blocked so had to circle round.
Lost the element of surprise and intercepted by a large royal force and had to surrender. Wyatt and Duke of Suffolk executed.
Reasons for failure
Not a genuinely popular rebellion. Wyatt got little backing from the commons outside Kent
Mary understood backing was for her, not Catholicism. She refused to listen to advisors who urged her to bring in a Spanish army to crush the trouble, and instead appealed for her subjects’ loyalty “as a mother to her children”
Cold weather. The rising began at the end of January – winter, a difficult time to rouse the commons for a long and uncomfortable march in the open with no shelter.
Bad security. Word of the plot leaked out two months early. Another example of the strength of the Tudor intelligence apparatus
